2014 Honda Civic Si 2.4 iVtec

Summary:

Great car, but needs minor improvements

Faults:

Slight metallic hum (best I can describe it) when releasing the clutch pedal in first gear, started at about 35000km.

Grinding noise from upper engine on cold start ups, lasts about 1 second. I assume it's the power steering pump.

General Comments:

I love this car, but it could be better.

205hp with a close gear ratio gear box. The gears are way too close together. For decent acceleration from a stop, I start in second and can easily skip 3rd and 5th gear. 6th gear is not a proper overdrive and does not help save gas, which brings me to my next complaint. The website and salesmen both said how great these cars are on gas... the Si only gets 300-350km per 40L tank (driven by my over cautious wife 99% of the time). The bottom half of the tank goes FAST; when you have 3 ticks left you better already be thinking about the closest gas station. Oh, don't forget 91 octane only. I have tried both city and highway driving and haven't found a significant difference.

Tires, decent in dry and wet conditions, BUT don't even think about driving in snow or ice with the all seasons that come with it.

The black paint on the rims dulled fast and I can never get them to look shiny.

I wash the car once a week since buying and it hasn't looked shiny since it left the dealership. Paint is cheap and chips/scratches way too easy; I did pay for an extra warranty on the paint and for rust.

Interior is sharp looking. I don't understand the need for 2 screens that both display the same things or the need for 2 cameras in a car this small. The "Premium sound system" is crap. I believe it adds about $5000 on the price tag. You would never know this car has a subwoofer.

The stereo display screen takes a bit of getting used to and the built in GPS is not user friendly. Bluetooth pairs, but we can never get it to play music from our devices... this is 2014 right?

Huge annoyance for me that I never noticed until after purchasing; there is NO auxiliary input. It clearly stated on the Honda website that there was one, instead it comes with an HDMI input and apparently will only work with Apple products 2015 or newer (according to the person from Honda Canada). Built in XM radio is crap. Contacted the dealership, XM, Sirius and Honda Canada; all said that it is known that XM doesn't get a proper signal in the northwest and cuts out more than often. Between the GPS, XM and auxiliary input issues, I have been in an ongoing fight with Honda Canada and the dealership to pull the "premium sound system" and give me something more usable. It hasn't gone well.

Overall, I probably would buy this car again, but knowing what I know now, would negotiate for a credit or aftermarket stereo system and better tires. I do plan on changing the gearbox, but I am first trying to get permission in writing from Honda so I don't void the warranty.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th February, 2017

12th Feb 2017, 16:25

I have a similar engine in my 2008 CR-V. The 2.4 without all the fancy VTEC stuff you have. My CR-V puts out about 170hp compared to yours at 201hp. I have read on one of those Honda forums that the start up noise is a noisy oil pump. My car does the same thing, a grinding sound only at start up when the engine is cold. The forum remarks went on to say a noisy oil pump doesn't hurt the reliability of the engine. It's just very noisy. Also you say that yours goes away quickly. Mine stays that way for at least 4-6 seconds before it quiets down, so you might have a different problem or flaw than mine does. I have owned several Hondas; this 2.4 is the only one to make that grinding sound at start up.

19th Aug 2018, 08:12

Honest review, rare on this site. Wait for the flames from the Honda community.